Tourettes & The N-Word

All the BBC had to do was not air it...simple.
It was not intentional and yes it is an offensive word.
The poor man with the disability is being made a spectacle of and black people around the world have to justify why they take offence.

The BBC once again shows a lack of judgement.

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KatyO83 · 41-45, F

I feel so sorry for John. I've met him and he's such a lovely guy. He's lived much of his life under public scrutiny and he's here again. All it needed was an edit.

I live with Tourette syndrome. My tics are mostly physical, involuntary facial grimaces, jumping, leg twitches etc. I have in the past had noise ones too mostly like growling or grunting.

Very simply you cannot control it particularly in stressful situations.

John is famous for his spitting and swearing. I've chosen to not see the film as personally I feel it's again awful exploitation of John and his condition. This latest controversy is imho just that again.

BabyLonia · F

@KatyO83 john was closely involved with the film, it is part of his work to get understanding for this disability and he is usually quite prepared for inappropriate outbursts....he said "fuck the queen" when collecting his mbe. The real issue is that it was not edited and how it has blown up.

I feel for Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo for having to navigate through that.

The programming was not live, and it could have been censored.

TheRealBarbossa · 36-40, T

I don't know which show/doc you're referring to, but I feel it's important to show that people with tourettes genuinely have no controll over what they say at times.

I wouldn't use the N-word myself, but that's because I'm in control of what I say, unlike people with tourettes

BabyLonia · F

@TheRealBarbossa that is my point, the BBC had a choice though whether to air this

bijouxbroussard · F

In the current atmosphere of insensitivity towards anti-black racism, I have to wonder a lot of things about this situation. Are they expecting black people to "suck it up" again, because this condition allows the afflicted to say what they can only think ?

I admit there’s a lot I don’t understand about Tourette’s but I grew up with someone who had it—never heard him use the ‘n’ word once. Maybe because that wasn’t in his subconscious to use ?

But you’re right, the BBC exercised abysmal judgment; and they have no right to tell black people what we should or shouldn’t find offensive. F*ck them. If that man had been shouting anti-Semitic slurs they wouldn’t dare be telling Jewish people, "take no notice". 🤨 And I doubt they would’ve aired it.

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samueltyler2 · 80-89, M

@bijouxbroussard some people are totally blind to their prejudices. I recently asked a photographer on another site why he called the image he posted Serengeti Sentinel. There was nothing African about the image, except for a black woman. He wrote: "Marian Pellegrinet, an Italian model touring the UK, poses easily in an excellent photoshoot last weekend. The background is three texture layers based upon a main image of the top of our (rusty) mailbox. A photoshop composite. Your thoughts or critique are welcome." when i asked "lovely image, why is it titled the way it is?"

he responded: "Thank you. I like the title, after wracking my brains for something with an African flavour, it seemed to fit. Do you have a better one? I posted another shot in Digital Artistry where Marian had a shield and spear. I called that Warrior Woman but later posted it elsewhere with the same title as this post. Maybe that was a better image for the title, if you see what I mean."

when i said i had no idea, he responded: "Hope I haven’t spoiled it for you. I just wanted to connect the lady, her clothes and props, and the background.
magnetoman."

I responded: "no you didn't. Admittedly, when i saw the title in my feed and that it was in the nude folder, i was curios. I have been very involved in the civil rights movement, so i was a bit startled by the image. (a nude dark skinned woman) Let's not go further down the rabbits' hole."

to which he responded: "I think you’re off at a tangent here toxdoc, I agree, any further discussion is not for here."

bijouxbroussard · F

@Tiredish Why the downvote ? What don’t you understand ?

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bijouxbroussard · F

Btw, when Akinola Davies, Jr. concluded his speech with "Free Palestine", that the BBC cut.

Tells you all you need to know, really. 🥺

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